CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.- The Art Institute of Chicago--in planning for the construction of the new wing designed by architect Renzo Piano--has announced the temporary deinstallation of artist Marc Chagall's America Windows, beginning May 2. The monumental artwork, which commemorates America's bicentinnial and honors Chicago's former mayor Richard J. Daley (1902–1976), has been enjoyed by more than 38 million visitors to the museum since its dedication on May 15, 1977. The museum is expected to reinstall the windows by spring 2009, when construction of the new building will be complete.

Marc Chagall was born July 7, 1887, in Vitebsk, Russia. From 1907 to 1910, he studied in Saint Petersburg, at the Imperial Society for the Protection of the Arts and later with Léon Bakst. In 1910, he moved to Paris, where he associated with Guillaume Apollinaire and Robert Delaunay and encountered Fauvism [more] and Cubism [more]. He participated in the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon d’Automne in 1912. His first solo show was held in 1914 at Der Sturm gallery in Berlin.

Chagall visited Russia in 1914, and was prevented from returning to Paris by the outbreak of war. He settled in Vitebsk, where he was appointed Commissar for Art in 1918. He founded the Vitebsk Popular Art School and directed it until disagreements with the Suprematists resulted in his resignation in 1920. He moved to Moscow and executed his first stage designs for the State Jewish Chamber Theater there. After a sojourn in Berlin, Chagall returned to Paris in 1923 and met Ambroise Vollard. His first retrospective took place in 1924 at the Galerie Barbazanges-Hodebert, Paris. During the 1930s, he traveled to Palestine, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, and Italy. In 1933, the Kunsthalle Basel held a major retrospective of his work.